How does a skateboarder become the youngest person to free climb El Capitan in a day? Growing up in Texas, Sam Stroh’s tendency to go “all in” was on full display. When he found climbing at the age of 17, his capacity for investment shifted from the concrete bowls of Houston, to the canyons and crags of New Mexico. University led west, towards Smith Rock, Yosemite, Indian Creek, Joshua Tree, and pandemic disruptions meant Stroh informally majored in climbing. He traded his truck for a van and took full liberty of “hybrid learning”, writing papers in Yosemite’s Church Bowl parking lot, and climbing as much and as hard as he could.

Powered by a frothing keenness, canned chili and chocolate bars, power playlists and a sense that unfettered time was a limited commodity, Stroh turned his attention to El Capitan where, at 20, he became one of the youngest people ever to free climb Freerider in a day. By 22, he’d also free climbed Golden Gate, and climbed El Corazon in a day.

Now that his window of opportunity to climb full-time is staying open, Stroh is exploring how he can generate a contribution that is genuine, artful and inspiring. He has begun to balance his intensity with intentionality, to ground his exploits in a strong broad foundation. He still has the list of goals he scratched out as a teenager but thinks of those “stepping stones’’ as part of a long journey towards becoming the climber and the human, partner, friend, son and brother, he ultimately hopes to be.

Achievements

• Zodiac, ground up over 14 days, 5.13d, 20p itches, El Capitan, USA, May 2024
• El Corazón in a day, 5.13b, 32 pitches, El Capitan, USA, November 2023
• The Path, 5.14a R, Lake Louise, Alberta, August 2024
• Wet Lycra Nightmare; 5.13D, Leaning Tower, Yosemite, USA, May 2022
• Golden Gate, El Capitan, USA, ground up ascent, January 2022